Furnishing a house.

KnuckleCue

Hi people.

My partner and I have decided to save some money to possibly live together in one year to 18 months time. I suggested saving now so that if we were ready we could go straight for it rather than decide to do it and write off a month's salary which would be hard or have to wait even longer t get money together and he agreed.

I'm trying to come up with an idea of how much to furnish a 3 bed home? We aren't looking for the shiniest, ewest thing and as long as they are in good, workable condition and safe and clean we are happy. Assuming a house is unfurnished this is what we'd need:

Kitchen:
Fridge
Washing machine
Microwave (already have)
Necessary kitchen appliances (so far I have one frying pan, one saucepan, 4 each of knives, forks and spoons, a kettle, a blender and a toaster, two bowls and lots of cups).
Table
Four chairs

Living room:
Sofa and two armchairs
TV Stand
Shelves for DVDs and books (one each)

Main bedroom:
Double bed
Wardrobe
Two bedside cabinets (I have these)
Chest of drawers.

His son's room
His son he has two days a week so of course our home will be his home too and I am happy with that. I assume his son will need:
Bed
Chest of drawers/ wardrobe for clothes
Desk
Some form of storage for toys
Bedside cabinet for a nightlight.

Spare room:
We agreed that given I'm still studying that if we move in together we'd get a three bedroom so I could have a study. That way if his son is over and I have a deadline for an essay I can have somewhere to go and study without being disturbed (I do not want his son to feel he can't play in his own home).

I would need:
Desk (have this)
Shelves for files/ textbooks
Chair.
Also a spare single bed as we both work 24/7 so a spare bed for guests or one of us to sleep during the day would be ideal.

I know the question is a "how long is a piece of string" but a general idea would e great. I thought perhaps £1500 would cover all this?

Ben84

You haven't mentioned an oven, which may or may not come with a house?

As for £1500, it could be tight. Do you have good second hand shops for furniture? I've bought some very good things pretty cheaply in the ones here - but I've had the benefit of time to look around until the right item turns up. So, what items must you have immediately, and do you have any storage space between now and then?

phill99

When I moved into my house the only things that were brand new were beds, fridge, Hoover and ironing board.

The rest of my furnishings etc just seemed to 'arrive'. It's amazing, once you tell people you are moving into your new home, how many people are happy to give you things or are upgrading and willing to let you have their second hand stuff.

Freecycle and freegle is an excellent place to start and you will find that over the course of a few weeks, the entire contents if a house will be put up for free by different people offering their things that are no longer needed.

General chattels auctions are also a good place to get cheap furniture.

IKEA do a kitchen starter pack that contains saucepans, utensils, and it's good value.

Pune shops are also good for utensils etc.

KnuckleCue

Yes I forgot the cooker (quite bad).

We have only discussed living together and are trying to get some ideas of how much we have to save. There is no immediate rush to live together (probably a year to 18 months) but want to put a bit of money aside now and trying to calculate.

Is £2k more reasonable?

Ben84

I did wonder at first if you're on this new diet where you don't cook anything, but then you also mentioned a frying pan and saucepan, so I was puzzled. However, it's really easy to forget things. When I moved in to my first house I had planned ahead and had plenty of things, and all looked fine until bedtime when I realised I'd never bought a duvet or pillows! It happens, in fact it's probably going to happen. Some items you never thought about will be needed, so any spare in your budget is a good thing. You don't have to spend it, but it's there if you need it.

As for cost, there's just so many variables. I suspect the cooker, fridge, washing machine, beds and sofa/chairs will be the expensive items. I'd spend a budget this size very disproportionally, going cheap on some things and not on others.

You could save a lot on the sofa/chairs if you buy second hand, ideally a private seller, and potentially still get a good set for a lot less. Look at eBay's local collect auctions and filter for ended, as well as second hand stores to see typical current prices for items you like. A new sofa and chairs of even moderate quality would take a big chunk of your budget, so I'd want to save a lot here. General furniture items are easy for anyone to judge the condition and life left, so they're a pretty safe place to go second hand.

You might be less sure about second hand appliances however. Shops that do repairs and sell used appliances, often with some kind of a warranty have been a safe enough choice for me in the past though, and you might be able to negotiate something if you buy several items at once. If the shop has been around a long time, I'd say you can trust them as bad repair places don't survive long in my experience. Also, set aside some money to have a cooker installed, it's very important to have it set up properly if it's gas, and not a bad idea for electric ones too unless you're good at this kind of thing.

There's also cheap new, but I wouldn't want to buy a budget washing machine or bed (well, the mattress at least) as cheap ones won't last and you'll be back again buying another soon. The budget £199 or £299 washing machines are poor value, so I'd be spending a lot there if I bought new. Same for mattresses. Well, if one is not used full time, a cheaper one should hold up ok for some time, but for everyday use the budget ones seem to go squishy pretty fast.

Also, don't forget the license if you have a TV. That alone is a big chunk of your budget if you have a colour set. About 10%, unfortunately. I decided not to have a TV in my first house and didn't get one for a few years due to the cost. Also watch out for charges to connect telephone or internet services.

Anyway, it took me a long time to get everything right, I didn't have a cooker for the first year and no washing machine for several years. However, you'll manage with whatever you have at the start and things get better over time.

KnuckleCue

Thank you all for your input. My OH is still shocked by how expensive it all is! Both are going to save £150 a month each then any overtime we both do we will add an extra 20% of that money to it. Then hopefully we will be okay. At least if we have underestimated it's a lot easier to contribute an extra £500 than save nothing and spend £1000s

paulineb_2

I agree, look in IKEA and charity shops, I got a lovely pine table and chairs out of a charity shop for about a tenner. If things dont need to be brand new have a look on freecycle, I got my couches and chairs from someone I knew when I moved in, 18 years ago and even with a few changes of throws later, still going strong.

If you have a home bargains near you they do stuff for the home cheap, same with poundworld, wilkinsons, B and M. Even the supermarkets do low cost kitchen stuff.

Storage for toys, again B and M bargains do storage tubs really cheaply, saw them yesterday when I was in, so do poundstretcher if you have one near you.

My last washing machine came from the british heart foundation, was 170 quid and was a Bosch, which is a decent make, again if you have a BHF charity shop near you, they do a lot of white goods, if its a decent sized shop.

Id also say, dont skimp on a mattress, those are the items I did buy cheap (well I bought everything cheap) and not worth it, get a decent mattress.

rds60h

The cost of furnishing the house is completely reliant on what you want/need and what you are prepared to accept.
You do not say if you are going to buy or rent a property, if renting is the option then perhaps consider a fully furnished property. However, if you intend to buy a property then I hope that you buy a property that has floor coverings because carpets or wood flooring and underlay could easily be your most expensive outlay.
If you are prepared to use freecycle and preloved or gumtree and Ebay then the cost can be whatever you want it to be, we furnished our living room with 2 x 2 seater leather sofas (free), Dining table and 4 chairs (£20), 2 Display cabinets and draws (£20), Electric fire and surround (£20) we also acquired a a better washing machine than we had for £70 and we recouped £45 when we sold our old machine.
We have also managed to buy 2 double beds with matresses for a total of £27, we have had to travel and collect these items within a 25 to 30 miles radius so a van or an estate car or hatchback and a roof rack is essential.

jimmy_81

Not much to add on specifics that others haven't already mentioned.

Freecycle etc. can be gold - also ask at your local tip if they recycle furniture - might sounds scummy but you'd be amazed what nice pieces some people just throw away. Our local council have a warehouse where all this stuff is sold at v reasonable rates, and further reduced if you're on benefits at all. :T

My advice would be to buy NOTHING until you really know you need it.

The only stuff you must have to live in a house/flat are essential appliances (fridge/freezer, cooker, washing machine) and some kitchen gear. A bed & mattress is preferable, but at a pinch you could always use a blow-up bed...

The reason I say this is because no matter how often you view or visit a prospective property, you'll only really understand what you need once you're living there.

Where you thought a chest of drawers would work? Actually - you need a wardrobe. Etc. etc...

What this - hopefully! - avoids is a house full of clutter & unsuitable furniture 6 months down the line. It also means you can spend more of your budget on the things you decide you DO really need. :beer:

Definitely the right idea to save in advance though - good luck!

jezebel

It's never a bad idea to save for these things, I had a furniture budget of just over £1500 when I moved out - did it for less than £500 in the end thanks to sales and second hand (British Heart Foundation are great as are other charities). Also, if there is a local furniture recycling place near you or a retail seconds store (Next Outlet etc) then these are a great place to buy too.

My only advice is to think about what you really need to buy NEW and what you can do with second hand as a starting point. The new sofa I wanted was over £500, but I got a second hand sofa-bed for £85

Also, don't buy anything until you've measured and measured again and pictured it in there with the other furniture - may sound obvious but the table I bought fitted into the space but not once I had factored in putting chairs around it and having elbow room to eat and push chairs in and out - it also didn't really go with the rest of the furniture

phoebe1989seb

The likes of eBay, Preloved and Freecycle can be your friends when setting up home for the first time......or later, even

I'd look very carefully at the quality of stuff from Ikea - which is great for some things, but not so for others. DS bought a sofa (£800) from there when he was furnishing his first flat with his GF a couple of years back. It wore really badly despite the cost and even after dry-cleaning the loose covers it wasn't brilliant.

Still they sold it on eBay (for £400, so not too bad) and bought a pair of far better quality (and excellent condition) Multiyork sofas for £25 each on a Buy-it-Now from someone who was emigrating.....

We picked up a £2000 Rangemaster oven on Preloved for under £300 to replace ours that we had to let go when we sold our last house. The same model second hand on eBay was selling for £800-£1000